Nick's Insight
Themes, Symbols, Imagery
All About Gatsby
Other Characters
Put it in order!
100
Why does Nick tell us about Gatsby's past now instead of later in the novel?
What is: He wanted to clear up the rumors, and Gatsby told him "...at a time of confusion, when I had reached the point of believing everything and nothing about him." So it only makes sense that Nick tells us somewhat randomly about Gatsby's past.
100
What does Daisy's little gold pencil represent?
What is: Wealth; "old money" It also shows that she knows he is unfaithful, but she does not care because she has access to all the possessions she needs and wants. She doesn't need Tom to be faithful, and even if she did, she wouldn't have a choice in the environment and the world she lives in.
100
What is Gatsby's real name?
What is: James Gatz
100
Who invites Gatsby to supper? (If you can't remember the scene: they leave Gatsby behind) Who doesn't want Gatsby there?
What is: Mrs. Sloane invites Gatsby, Mr. Sloane does not want Gatsby there.
100
a) The unpleasant party b) Sloane and Tom rejecting Gatsby c) The reporter from NY asking Gatsby if he had anything to say
What is: C, B, A
200
Recall when Nick and Gatsby talk about the past: "Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!" (111) What does Nick's attitude towards Gatsby's statement in this passage tell us about the difference between Nick and Gatsby and how Nick sees Gatsby?
What is: Nick is a realist. He thinks Gatsby's idea of restarting and changing the past is a bit ridiculous, poking fun at him by saying "He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house..."
200
What does Cody's yacht represent?
What is: The job and the opportunity Gatsby obtained from Cody and his yacht was his first experience with living lavishly, or entering the lavish lifestyle. He was exposed to a man with a lot of money; a very wealthy man that drank a lot, similar to the people he's surrounded by currently. Ella Kaye even used him for money too, like all the people in Gatsby's current life. The yacht and Dan Cody is his rebirth "...that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world." (100)
200
Why does Gatsby drink so little?
What is: Because Dan Cody drank so much
200
What was the only thing/the only people at the party that Daisy liked or didn't mind?
What is: The actress and her director; they were the least unpleasant people there, they moved slowly and sweetly
200
a) Nick telling us about Dan Cody b) Nick giving us a description of a moment between Gatsby and Daisy 5 years ago c) Tom calling Gatsby a bootlegger
What is: A, C, B
300
Why does the party that Daisy and Tom show up to stand out in Nick's memory out of all the other parties that summer?
What is: he said the atmosphere was a bit different... It was unpleasant (if Tom giving the evening a peculiar quality of oppressiveness is said this counts)
300
"They were still under the white-plum tree and their faces were touching except for a pale, thin ray of moonlight between..." (108) What does the color imagery convey about why the actress and director were so fascinating?
What is: They were different from the rest of the crowd. They weren't unpleasant or chaotic; the light, the white tree, and the soft movements conveyed innocence and purity.
300
"He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to tom and say: "I never loved you." After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures..." What was the one practical measure Nick mentions?
What is: Go to Louisville and get married "just as if it were five years ago." Gatsby wants to change the past, he wants to end up with Daisy just like he was supposed to...
300
Who said it? "By God, I may be old fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish."
What is: Tom
300
a) Daisy giving Tom her little gold pencil b) Daisy and Gatsby Dancing (Nick sees Gatsby fox-trot for the first time) c) sitting at the tipsy table (Miss Baedeker, the lethargic woman, and the doctor)
What is: B, A, C
400
“But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot. The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night. A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while the clock ticked on the washstand and the moon soaked with wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor. Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness embrace. For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy's wing” (99). What does Nick think of Gatsby's perspective on the world and life?
What is: Nick thinks Gatsby is unrealistic. Gatsby is so stuck in the past he is trying to relive it and change it to what he believes would have been perfect.
400
What does Gatsby's past signify?
What is: The American Dream. Gatsby made his own name--literally. He also makes his own money by beginning with a poor family and finding a way through drug stores and business to wealth.
400
What did Cody like about Gatsby? (101)
What is: He was quick and extravagantly ambitious
400
Who said it? "At least they're more interesting than the people we know..."
What is: Daisy
400
a) "Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!" b) "I stayed late that night, Gatsby asked me to wait until he was free, and I lingered in the garden until the inevitable swimming party had run up...When he came down the steps at last the tanned skin was drawn unusually tight on his face, and his eyes were bright and tired." c) Tom laughed and turned to me. "Did you notice Daisy's face when that girl asked her to put her under a cold shower?" Daisy began to sing with the music in a husky, rhythmic whisper, bringing out a meaning in each word that it had never had before and would never have again.
What is: C, B, A
500
At the very end of the chapter, Nick describes Gatsby and Daisy five years ago. What did this little flash back do for the reader in terms of Gatsby's vision?
What is: Nick describes this perfect scene between Gatsby and Daisy and how things should have been in Gatsby's mind. Nick forgets what he recalled from this flashback, which shows the forgotten past and how Gatsby needs to let go and things are in the past for a reason.
500
Why doesn't Sloane and Tom want Gatsby to come to dinner?
What is: It's the "old money" vs "new money" conflict. Because they are the old money, they think Gatsby is socially inferior to them, even though he is probably more wealthy and worked hard for his money and the life he has, he is new money and they do not want him to come to dinner because they see him as less than them.
500
What did it mean when Nick said Gatsby was "a son of God?"
What is: Gatsby did not recognize his parents as his parents, he felt self-made and "...he must be about His Father's business...the service of...beauty."
500
What was the name of Dan Cody's yacht?
What is: Tuolomee
500
a) "Daisy began to sing with the music in a husky, rhythmic whisper, bringing out a meaning in each word that it had never had before and would never have again." b) "And it was from Cody that he inherited money--a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars. He didn't get it..." (Ella Kaye takes Cody's money) c) "Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy's running around alone, for on the following Saturday night he came with her to Gatsby's party."
What is: B, C, A
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